GMS (NYSE:GMS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GMS (NYSE:GMS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

GMS has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on GMS from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on GMS from $92.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays upped their price target on GMS from $75.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of GMS from $72.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of GMS from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $89.63.

GMS Price Performance

GMS stock opened at $91.32 on Wednesday. GMS has a 1 year low of $54.59 and a 1 year high of $101.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.99.

GMS (NYSE:GMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.01). GMS had a return on equity of 25.65% and a net margin of 5.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that GMS will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at GMS

In other GMS news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of GMS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total transaction of $1,931,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,000,465.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Craig D. Apolinsky sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.57, for a total value of $1,931,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,000,465.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John C. Turner, Jr. sold 6,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.58, for a total value of $611,436.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,074 shares in the company, valued at $4,691,060.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,820 shares of company stock worth $3,561,192 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in GMS by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,482,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,600,000 after buying an additional 14,005 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in GMS by 57.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,250,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,068,000 after purchasing an additional 456,692 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in GMS by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,018,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,967,000 after purchasing an additional 76,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in GMS by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 611,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of GMS by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 558,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,048,000 after purchasing an additional 12,637 shares in the last quarter. 95.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GMS Company Profile

GMS Inc distributes wallboard, ceilings, steel framing and complementary construction products in the United States and Canada. The company offers ceilings products, including suspended mineral fibers, soft fibers, and metal ceiling systems primarily used in offices, hotels, hospitals, retail facilities, schools, and various other commercial and institutional buildings.